Epiphone's Tristen's new album C A V E S, mixed by Stephen Hague (New Order), will be out later this year. Tristen's main axe on her album is her late 60's vintage Casino. She recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign, bypassing the many labels who came knocking on her door after her first album, Charlatans At the Gate, was a critical smash last year and was featured for a full week on NPR. C A V E S will be get a full promotional release soon. Epiphone spoke with her about the new album.

Tell us about C A V E S
I wrote a bunch of songs on my Lowery keyboard at my home in Nashville and integrated the use of the Alesis HR-16--which Buddy Hughen and I were using on my solo tours this year--into my recordings. I’m hoping to meld some modern sounds with very organic sounds of strings and live drums and bass. I wrote quartet arrangements and vocal arrangements so we have sort of a keyboard, string and drum focused record with Buddy Hughen wailing on guitar in the open spaces.

Charlatans At The Garden Gate was very well received. Did you feel like you had to steer your sound in a different direction?
I do feel like every record should be approached with some concept sonically, but mostly just as parameters to guide the endless possibilities we have now with computers and the worlds of sound. I think the fact that I wrote most of the songs on the organ naturally informs the way the songs ended up working on recording. The style of a record usually follows my curiosity in a certain aesthetic. I like good songs and I think a good song can be presented in many, many different ways. I’m enjoying seeing my songs through a certain lens on each record. I start with a lot of songs and the ones that fit glue themselves together in my mind as they turn out on the recording.